Surah Al-Waqiah: Meaning, the Three Groups and Reported Benefits

Surah Al-Waqiah is the Quran’s 56th chapter. Its name, often translated ‘the Event’ or ‘the Inevitable’, comes from its opening: when the Event befalls, there is no denying it, and it will abase some and exalt others. Ibn Kathir explains that Al-Waqiah is one of the names of the Day of Resurrection, and that the Day will bring low some who were mighty in this life and raise some who were weak.

The Quran.com introduction adapted from Ibn Ashur describes the surah as Makkan and centred on the certainty of resurrection and judgement. In Jami` at-Tirmidhi 3297, displayed as sahih (Darussalam), the Prophet names Al-Waqiah among the surahs that had made his hair grey, which conveys how seriously its themes were received.

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One practical orientation divides the surah into six movements. The boundaries are a study aid rather than revealed headings, but they follow its own turns from the Hour to the three groups, then to evidence from daily life, the status of the Quran and the moment of death.

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Verse 7 says people will be of three kinds. Verse 8 names those on the right hand, verse 9 those on the left hand, and verse 10 the foremost, who are brought near in gardens of delight. The foremost are described first (56:13–26), then the companions of the right (56:27–40), then the companions of the left (56:41–56).

Ibn Kathir explains that the foremost are nearer to Allah and higher in rank than the companions of the right, and include messengers, prophets, the truthful and martyrs. He links the word to being foremost in good deeds, citing the commands to hasten towards forgiveness in 3:133 and 57:21. The foremost are ‘a multitude of those of old and a few of those of later time’; Ibn Jarir took this as earlier nations and this community, while Ibn Kathir preferred the earlier and later generations of this community.

The companions of the right are a multitude from both the earlier and the later (56:39–40). The companions of the left are described as having lived in luxury, persisted in grave sin and questioned whether they would be raised again after becoming dust and bones (56:45–47). Ibn Kathir notes that the surah’s ending applies the same three-way division at the moment of death (56:88–94).

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Verses 57–74 answer the denial of resurrection with four questions from daily life. Have you seen the seed you emit: do you create it? Have you seen what you cultivate: do you make it grow? Have you observed the water you drink: do you send it down from the clouds? Have you observed the fire you kindle: did you grow its tree? Each question separates human effort from the power that makes effort bear fruit.

The argument is explicit in verse 62: you already know the first creation, so why do you not reflect? The crops could become chaff and the water could be made bitter, and the expected response is thanks. The passage ends with the command to praise the name of your Lord, the Tremendous (56:74), which the surah repeats as its final verse.

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After an oath by the places of the stars, verses 77–80 say that this is a noble Quran, in a Book kept hidden, which none touches save the purified, a revelation from the Lord of the Worlds. The immediate point is the Quran’s origin and protection: Ibn Kathir explains the passage as rejecting the claim that it is magic or sorcery.

Ibn Kathir reports from Ibn Abbas that the Book meant is the one in heaven, and from Ibn Abbas, Anas, Mujahid, Ikrimah, Sa‘id ibn Jubayr and others that ‘the purified’ are the angels. Qatadah said that with Allah only the purified touch it, although in this world impure people handle copies. Ibn Zayd linked the verse to the Quraysh claim that devils brought the Quran down, and Ibn Kathir judged that consistent with the earlier explanations.

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Jurists have discussed whether this passage also governs handling a physical copy of the Quran, the mushaf. An IslamWeb fatwa quotes a fiqh encyclopaedia stating that the majority of jurists hold wudu obligatory for touching the mushaf, citing 56:79. Supporters also cite the Prophet’s letter stating that only a pure person should touch the Quran; Imam Malik records that letter, sent to Amr ibn Hazm, in the Muwatta.

The same fatwa acknowledges that some scholars permitted touching the mushaf without wudu for someone in a state of minor impurity, a view IslamWeb does not adopt, and it states that doing so is not disbelief. Another IslamWeb fatwa notes that reciting from memory without touching a copy does not require wudu. Follow the position of your school or a qualified teacher; this guide does not issue a ruling.

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The widely shared report says, on the authority of Ibn Mas‘ud, that whoever recites Al-Waqiah every night will never be afflicted by want, and that Ibn Mas‘ud told his daughters to recite it nightly. Mishkat al-Masabih 2181 records it from al-Bayhaqi’s Shu‘ab al-Iman; the linked page shows its grading as not yet completed.

Many hadith scholars grade the report weak. An IslamQA answer classes it as da‘if, citing al-Albani’s Silsilat al-Ahadith ad-Da‘ifah (289), and the Quran.com introduction to the surah calls it a weak hadith. A Hadith Answers reply takes a more favourable view of one chain, quoting al-Busiri that Abu Ya‘la recorded it with reliable narrators and al-Zayla‘i that the chain is good. Given this disagreement, the report should not be presented as an established promise.

Scholars have long discussed whether weaker reports may be acted on in matters of virtue, and many Muslims read Al-Waqiah at night as voluntary recitation. That differs from treating it as a guaranteed financial remedy. Verse 82 itself rebukes those who make denial their ‘livelihood’; Ibn Kathir cites reports explaining it as attributing rain to the stars instead of thanking Allah.

Sources: [10] [11] [2] [12] [5]

Read in the six movements above, or in two sittings divided at verse 56, with the verified Arabic and an identified translation. At each group, note the deeds and attitudes the surah links with that outcome; at each sign, name the provision you rely on without thinking. For memorisation, begin with the short verses of the first movement and review from verse 1 each week.

• Read 56:1–12 and write the three groups in your own words.
• Read 56:57–74 aloud and answer each question before moving on.
• Pause at 56:77–82 and ask how you treat the Quran in handling, listening and belief.
• Finish with 56:83–96 and connect the outcomes at death with the opening division.
• If you keep a nightly routine, treat it as voluntary recitation without attaching a promised result.

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